


An Act of Defiance

by CaptainAwesome242



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: Character Study, Court Martial, First Meetings, Gen, Mission Reports, Missions, Missions Gone Wrong, Not Canon Compliant, Post-Mission, Pre-Five Year Mission, Pre-Season/Series 01, Pre-Series, Prompt Fic, Prompt Fill, Starfleet, Tumblr Prompt, away mission
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-15
Updated: 2017-01-15
Packaged: 2018-09-17 16:54:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9334196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainAwesome242/pseuds/CaptainAwesome242
Summary: "I told him about what had happened, about what I'd done, but he didn't see it as an act of kindness, he saw it as an act of defiance,""Was it?" Jim asked.McCoy looked him in the eye, "You're damn right it was."





	

Captain James T. Kirk was sat in a small office at Starfleet Headquarters, reading over the personnel file on his PADD. It wasn't his office and he was glad of it, it was tiny with dull grey walls and no windows. It reminded him of a prison, and that was the point. This room was for the use of Starfleet officials who didn't have their own office at HQ to interview potential crew members. It was designed to invoke a sense of importance and severity in the interviewee both about Starfleet in general and of the interviewing officer; their coloured uniform stark against the plain walls, making them seem more imposing. It was also meant to make the interviewee feel not trapped exactly, but cornered, the idea being that they were more likely to speak truthfully whilst simultaneously ingraining the fact that they were a far lesser crewman than the one before them.

 

All in all, Jim felt that this was bullshit.

 

He did not want to command respect, he expected it. No one would be interviewed in this room without having been through the Academy; four years of having rules, regulations and nothing short of admiration for your superiors relentlessly drilled into you. If you still did not display the correct attitude and respect for the chain of command then you were in the wrong business. He felt that he should be able to interview a crewman anywhere and see the same level of respect. Aside from that, Jim wondered how it was _possible_ to command respect when he was cramped behind a tiny desk in a room that was barely fit to be a storage cupboard never mind an office. 

 

Ordinary, Jim would conduct interviews aboard the Enterprise in his Ready Room, where he would feel more at ease and would be able to show the potential crewman around, but his ship was currently undergoing some modifications and Jim was therefore required to make use of this room. He could easily have organised the interview over the viewing screen, but this was an interview he wanted to have in person.

 

So he sat carefully rereading the personnel file of one Doctor Leonard H. McCoy.

 

He'd been warned against this crewman by a number of officers who'd served with him and even by his CMO, who'd told him that:

 

"... _the man has no respect; he disobeys orders and does whatever he damn well pleases,_ "

 

This statement was undeniable, as Doctor McCoy was currently facing Court Martial for disobeying orders and disregarding the Prime Directive, a serious offence in Starfleet's eyes. And yet, Jim was intrigued.

 

Looking over his service record, Jim found that McCoy was extremely well qualified and possessed a wealth of medical experience before even signing up to Starfleet, which he had done ten years ago and now held the rank of Lieutenant Commander. Jim reasoned that he could not have climbed the ranks like that if he showed no respect and was incompetent in his role and he certainly wouldn't throw it away without cause, leaving the Captain to suspect that there was more to this disciplinary hearing than there seemed.

 

This of course led Jim to read the mission report for the incident in question. It stated that an away team consisting of Doctor McCoy, Science Officer Commander Schultz, and Agricultural Specialist Lieutenant Moran was beamed down to a newly discovered class M planet to observe the inhabitants and their development, but under no circumstances were they to interfere. It soon became apparent that a disease, cultured in the plant life, was ravaging the villages and killing the inhabitants. Upon reporting this to the ship, Captain Monaghan ordered the away team to beam up immediately to prevent catching the disease themselves. It was deemed by Starfleet that the disease was part of the planets natural progression and that they were not to interfere. The report goes on to tell that McCoy, ' _in a fit of rage'_ , fled into the nearest village before he could be beamed up, and because he had tossed aside his communicator they would be unable to retrieve him without sending someone down to find him. He was found a few days later in a village several miles from the beam up point, using his medical equipment to treat the inhabitants.

 

He was beamed back aboard in disgrace, having disobeyed orders, put the health of the crew in jeopardy in light of the possibility of the disease being brought aboard, disregarded the Prime Directive by interfering, and exposed advanced Starfleet property to a race that was in Earth's equivalent of the medieval times. 

 

Suffice it to say, Doctor McCoy was in a mess, and it seemed Starfleet was determined to make him pay. 

 

For his part, Jim could understand both sides of this. 

 

As a Captain himself he could see the problem with disobeying orders and crewman going rogue; he needed to ensure that his crew were entirely loyal and would obey his orders, not necessarily without question, but certainly without argument.

 

As James T. Kirk however, he could understand bending rules and overlooking the Prime Directive, (hell, he'd done it himself on a number of occasions, not all of which Starfleet was aware of) as long as he believed that what he was doing was right. And it seemed to him that Doctor McCoy believed that treating the villagers was the right thing to do.

 

McCoy's Starfleet career was down the pan, no respectable Captain would take him on as a crewman after his actions on that mission. But McCoy had impressive credentials, a strong moral compass, and was not too in awe of his superiors to call them on bullshit, and Jim needed men like this on his ship.

 

The computer chirped on the desk and Jim answered it.

 

"Kirk here,"

 

" _Doctor McCoy is here for you, sir,_ " the young female voice informed him.

 

"Thank you, send him through," he clicked the communication off and stood, straightening his golden shirt. He'd considered wearing his dress uniform but had decided against it. Jim wanted to level with this man, and McCoy already had a grudge with the brass, he didn't want to put him off before he had even started.

 

Moments later the door swished open and Doctor McCoy stepped in. He had the same dark hair brushed to the side as his ID photo, but there were dark circles under his eyes and deep lines between his brows. 

 

"Doctor McCoy, I'm Captain James T. Kirk of the U.S.S. Enterprise," Jim extended his hand and McCoy took it and gave it one firm shake before letting go.

 

"I've heard of you, sir," he said, and remained standing until Jim gestured to the seat on the opposite side of the desk.

 

 _So far he's been respectful, if a little cold_ , Jim thought, _he's curious._

 

"I suppose you're wondering why I've asked to see you here," Jim began.

 

"I have a fair guess," McCoy stated, his voice taking on a harder edge.

 

Jim gestured with his hand for the Doctor to continue. 

 

"I've already been approached by a number of Admirals who've asked me to just resign before they discharge me and I've said no to all of them. Now they've asked you, a Captain renowned for his stretching of the rules, to ask me because they think that if _you_ tell me I've got no chance at my hearing I'll believe it and resign. Unfortunately, I'm still not resigning. Now if you don't mind, I have a Court Martial to prepare for," he stood and headed for the door.

 

"That's a nice theory Doctor, but that's not why you're here," Jim said, remaining seated.

 

Doctor McCoy stopped in his tracks and turned to face Captain Kirk, his cheeks turning slightly red, "Oh,"

 

Jim resisted the urge to smirk, and once again gestured to the chair, "If you'd like to take a seat, Doctor,"

 

McCoy sat back down and stared at Jim, his expression less hostile but still guarded.

 

"Now, I'd like you to tell me about your mission on Kylata II," Jim leant forward and clasped his hands together on the desk.

 

McCoy frowned, "With all due respect, sir, I believe you've already read the mission report,"

 

Jim nodded, "Yes, but I'm not talking about the official mission, I'm talking about _your_ mission, tell me about _your_ mission on Kylata II,"

 

McCoy considered Kirk for a moment, "Alright. I beamed down to the planet with Commander Shultz and Lieutenant Moran, our orders were to discreetly check up on the inhabitants and make a judgement on their development based on their progress from the last contact and how they would proceed from there. My judgement was that they would not proceed at all, given the virus that had affected the food and was wiping out the villagers, unless we helped them,"

 

"But Captain Monaghan disagreed," Jim probed.

 

McCoy's face darkened, "Captain Monaghan decided that as the disease had been cultured on the planet it was part of that planets natural history to be consumed by the virus, and that we couldn't interfere without violating the Prime Directive,"

 

"So he ordered you and the others back to the ship," 

 

"Yes, and he wanted us up quick before any of us caught the virus. He beamed the others up but before he could beam me up I threw away my communicator and headed for the village,"

 

"It says in the report that you fled towards the village in a 'fit of rage', would you like to explain what this means?" Jim questioned.

 

Doctor McCoy let out a barely controlled breath before replying, "When I explained the crisis to Captain Monaghan and heard his answer, yes I was angry. There were people down here suffering terribly, needlessly, and the Captain refused to acknowledge it as a treatable situation. I will openly admit that I was far less than respectful to Captain Monaghan, and I was angry, but a 'fit of rage' is not an accurate description. It implies that there was no reason behind it and that I ran off to the village like some madman,"

 

Jim nodded thoughtfully, "But you did go to the village, against orders. What happened when you got there?"

 

"People noticed me as soon as I got there, not because of my clothes, I was dressed in a native outfit, but because of my health. Everyone was either withered by the disease or wasting away from starvation," he was quiet for a moment, "Have you ever seen a famine Captain?"

 

"Yes," Jim answered truthfully.

 

McCoy seemed surprised for a second, but his face soon darkened again, "Then you know what it was like down there. Fear and death. They approached me cautiously, some asked me for help, others told me to run, leave while I still could. I told them that I was a healer, and that I was there to help. They took me to the biggest building; it looked like it had been a church of some kind, where all of the sick were being kept. I subtly took out my tricorder and scanned one of them. It was fairly easy to discover what the disease was and how to treat it. Luckily it only required a small amount of cordrozine, and I had plenty. I gave everyone a shot and told them that they would now be immune and could eat the food again. They were wary at first, but I told them that I was so assured of it that I would prove it. I gave myself a shot and ate a small amount of the bread. A few hours later and I had not been poisoned; they believed me and began to eat again. I spoke to the leader and got him to organise the food so that no one would eat too much too quickly and become sick. He then told me about a few of the neighbouring villages having the same troubles and showed me on my way. It took a few days but I went to each of the villages and cured everyone I could, but my supplies were running out. I then had to choose who to save; who would recover the best and who it was too late for,"

 

He was quiet for a minute before continuing, "That's when Starfleet found me again. Captain Monaghan had me beamed back aboard and kept in the brig pending court martial when we returned to Earth. I told him about what had happened, about what I'd done, but he didn't see it as an act of kindness, he saw it as an act of defiance,"

 

"Was it?" Jim asked.

 

McCoy looked him in the eye, "You're damn right it was. He's acted like this before in similar incidents; never helping anyone, never doing the right thing because he was more concerned about going against the Prime Directive and protecting his own ass than the people that really needed help. This was the last straw. This was a treatable situation, as I proved, and could have been dealt with much more efficiently had they helped the inhabitants rather than me having to do it single handed. Since I've been back the Admiralty has been doing its best to convince me to resign because they know that I am right and they don't want to be shown up. I refuse to resign, Captain, I want the case to be heard; not for myself, but for the people out there who are being refused the help that we more than capable of giving. And if they still refuse to admit that they are wrong and I am dishonourably discharged? Well good, 'cause I don't wanna be a part of a peace organisation that prefers to turn a blind eye to suffering,"

 

There was a long pause where McCoy stared defiantly at Jim, daring him to disagree or to pull rank and reprimand him for his outburst. To the doctor's surprise, Jim did neither.

 

"I quite agree, which is why I asked you here today Doctor McCoy. You said yourself earlier that I am a Captain renowned for stretching the rules and it is true that I do, but only when I believe it to be the right thing to do. I read the various reports on the Kylata II incident as well as your personnel file and I felt that you had done the right thing and did not deserve to be punished for it. However I also spoke to your references, each of whom had a less than complimentary statement about you and your penchant for disobeying regulations. I asked you here to talk to you myself and see what your personal reasons were for what you did and I like what I've heard. I need men like you, McCoy, men with strong morals who aren't afraid to do what's right, which is why I want to give you a posting aboard the Enterprise,"

 

McCoy's demeanour had changed radically during Jim's speech from one of overt defiance to one of respect and agreement, until the end when it became slightly sarcastic, "Well thank you for the offer Captain, but I'm about to have a hearing that I have no chance of winning,"

 

Jim leaned in and smiled, "Then it's a good thing I know a brilliant defence lawyer,"


End file.
